NCIS: Missing Pieces
by Caitlin-Todd
Summary: After a Commander dies mysteriously in his own home, the abused wife becomes the team's first suspect. Things aren't so clear after all. Kibbs.
1. Default Chapter

"Tony!" Kate shouted as she started walking faster then before. She knew that whenever Tony was at her desk, it could never be a good thing. Therefore she never let any personal belongings be lying around on the desk for him to see.

"Yeah, Kate?" he said and turned around with a pearly white smile on his face. As usual he couldn't help himself from taking a closer look at Kate's things. This often occurred when he was incredible bored and when Gibbs wasn't around.

"Do I have to lock up all my things just to visit the cafeteria? I thought you had work to do" Kate said with a suspicious look as she walked around her desk.

"Well, unlike you, I've actually done my share of work today. Need I to remind you about the case I just happened to solve yesterday?" Tony asked with a smirk and Kate sighed.

"Tony, I think we both know who solved it…besides, that was yesterday. Need I to remind you that we have work to every day?" she asked and Tony was just about to say something when he saw Gibbs stepping out of the elevator.

"We're not done yet!" Tony whispered to Kate before returning to his desk.

"Oh yes we are!" Kate whispered back with a smirk and glanced at Gibbs that was walking past her desk with two cups of coffee. Kate and Tony looked at each other, trying not to worry over nothing. But it was never good when Gibbs needed a double portion of coffee in the morning.

"Bad weekend, boss?" Tony suddenly blurted out with a nervous laugh. Gibbs sat down at his desk and started drinking the coffee without answering. Kate tried looking busy by reading some old reports. She had a stack of folders beside her on the desk and noticed Tony staring at her. As usual he wanted her to say something to break the silence. Which worked some morning and today didn't seem like one of them.

Suddenly Gibbs' phone rang and Tony quickly walked over to Kate's desk.

"I think he's pissed about something" Tony whispered and Kate sighed.

"Good guess, Tony! Now, of you excuse me, I'm trying to work here. You do remember what that means, right?" Kate asked sarcastically and Tony made a face.

"Got it…okay, let's go!" Gibbs suddenly yelled out and got out of his chair. Kate and Tony glanced at each other before packing up their things.

"Where are we going, boss?" Tony asked as they both stepped in the elevator moments before the doors closed.

"Richmond, Virginia. A Commander has been found dead in his home and you know what that means" Gibbs said and drank up the last coffee.

"Murder?" Tony guessed with a nervous smile. Kate sighed and Gibbs glared at him without saying another word. Which was never good.

After spending 4 hours on a car with Tony babbling non-stop and Gibbs not saying anything, Kate nearly went insane. She took out her laptop as Gibbs turned into the street where Commander Mathews and his wife were living.

"It looks like our Commander Mathews is clean. Not even a parking ticket. His wife on the other hand was involved in an accident last year" Kate read out loud with her eyes on the computer screen.

"So? Plenty of people that are involved in accidents don't have anything to do with their other half's deaths" Tony said from the back but Kate just ignored him once again. His little comments hardly helped and didn't reveal anything that she didn't already know.

"Woah! It seems that the 'accident' was actually a fall down the stairs. She ended up with two broken ribs and a black eye" she suddenly said and looked Gibbs, both of them very well knowing what that meant. The grieving wife now had the perfect motive.

"Tony, take pictures. Kate, talk to the wife" Gibbs said without looking at his co-workers, and put on a pair of gloves before walking over to the dead body in the next room.

"How come you get to talk to the wife?" Tony asked with a frown.

"Maybe because we got something in common" she said and put down her backpack.

"See, now that's discrimination! I can't believe Gibbs would let you talk to the wife just because you happens to be a woman…sort of" Tony said and Kate gave him a warning look. She took out her notepad and glanced over at the crying wife.

"Tony, I hardly think that's the only reason why you're stuck with taking pictures" she said with a smirk and then walked over to the wife.

"DiNozzo, I thought I told you to take pictures!" Gibbs snapped and Tony quickly turned around with the same pearly white smile as always.

"Yeah, you did, boss" he said and Gibbs took a few steps closer.

"So get moving before I shoves that camera down your throat!" he whispered and Tony moved over to the dead body without another word.

In the mean time, Kate was not getting much out of the crying wife.   
"I'm so sorry for your lost, Mrs. Mathews, but I need you to answer my questions" Kate said in a soft tone of voice and gave the woman a sympathetic look.

"I came home earlier and…he was just lying there" Jane Mathews whispered and glanced into the other room. Kate couldn't help but stare at her and tried figuring out why the woman gave her a funny feeling. There was something about her tears and sad face that just didn't look real.

"Do you know of anybody that would be capable of hurting your husband?" she asked and the wife gave her a shocked look.

"What do you mean? You think somebody…murdered him?" she asked and Kate didn't know what to say. She knew she couldn't say too much to soon in an investigation, especially not since they weren't sure it was murder yet.

"That's what we are trying to find out, Mrs. Mathews, if this was just an accident or not" Kate then said and Jane Mathews nodded slowly without saying anything. Kate looked down at her notepad and there were only a few lines written so far. This interview was a dead end and she gave the wife a weak smile before getting up. She walked into the next room where Gibbs and Ducky were sitting down at the body.

"Well, it seems that Mrs. Mathews isn't going to help us solve the case. She's to shocked to answer any of my questions…" Kate said at looked down at Gibbs, trailing off.  
"So what's the problem?" Gibbs asked without taking his eyes of the dead body.  
"Who said it was a problem?" Kate asked and Gibbs slowly got up on his feet.

"You did" he said and Kate couldn't help but smile. It was usually what wasn't said that made Gibbs realize something was wrong.

"It's just that something is off about her. I don't know why but…I get the feeling that she is hiding something. When I asked her about her 'accident' she didn't even respond" Kate explained and she could tell that Gibbs was going to have a chat with the wife.

"Maybe she will have some answers if we take her back to headquarters…" Gibbs said and walked into the living room. Kate glanced down at the dead body and put away her notepad. Tony came down the stairs and took a picture just he walked into the room.

"DiNozzo! God, why don't you at least try to act mature for once?" Kate snapped and Tony put away the camera with a smirk.

"You know, it's a good thing you're a special agent" he said and Kate sighed.

"Okay, I know I'm going to regret this for the rest of my life…but why is that a good thing?" she asked and crossed arms, staring at Tony.

"Well, you gotta admit it, Kate, you're not a very photogenic person" Tony said.

"Tony…sometimes it's the photographer that doesn't know his way the around camera. Or other things for that matter" Kate said with a smirk at the end and walked past Tony, into the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the NCIS headquarters, Kate was glued to her computer. She hadn't taken her eyes of the screen for hours now and that was the perfect excuse for her not to breathe one word to Tony. After he had started babbling about his latest girlfriend, Gibbs sent him out to get coffee for all three of them. Which Tony had actually done without any complains.

"Here you go, Kate" he suddenly said with a smile and put down the plastic cup on her desk. Kate slowly removed her eyes from the computer screen and lifted up the coffee cup. She was used to doing two things at a time; especially since she had started working at NCIS. Drinking coffee and working on her computer was something she did almost every day. Sometimes even at midnight if they worked on a very important case.

Kate took a sip of the coffee while reading up on Mrs. Mathews past, and didn't at first react to the strange taste. She turned the chair around and spat everything out in the trash bin that was right beside her desk.

"Tony, what hell is this?" she yelled out and opened the top drawer. Tony walked over to her desk and looked down at the coffee cup.

"Looks like coffee to me, Kate" he said with a smirk and Kate glared up at him while popping a fresh mint into her mouth.

"Really? So how come it tastes like crap?" she asked and Tony smelled the coffee.

"Don't know. It does smell a bit weird. Oh, well…guess we'll never know!" he said with a laugh and Kate sighed.

"Hey, DiNozzo, get back to work! Kate, what did you find on Mrs. Mathews?" Gibbs asked and Tony returned to his desk with a smirk. Kate threw the plastic cup in her trash bin before leaning back in her chair.

"Well, not much. They were the typical white picket fence couple. Perfect on the outside and on the inside…falling apart. And not just because of the constant abuse, but it seems that she was having an affair. Or at least Commander Mathews thought she was…" Kate read of the screen and then turned to Gibbs.

"Looks like you two have some neighbors to interview" Gibbs said and drank up the rest of the coffee.

"Oh, do we have to, boss? I mean, the guy probably just imagined the whole thing" Tony said with a frown and Gibbs glared at him.

"That wasn't a suggestion, DiNozzo. Now get going before the case turns cold" he said and Kate was already on her way to the elevator before Tony had gotten out of his chair.

"You think he wants us to talk to every neighbor? I mean, there's be at least fifty on each side of the street!" Tony said while they were standing in the elevator, waiting to get down to the garage.

"This is Gibbs we're talking about, Tony, and we both know he doesn't care how many neighbors there is. As long as we interview them all, that's what matters" Kate said and took out another fresh mint from her purse.

"Guess that coffee was a bit to strong for you, huh?" Tony asked with a proud smile and Kate gave him a warning look.

"Don't even go there, Tony. Not unless you ever wanna have coffee again" she said and the elevator doors suddenly opened. She walked out with a devious smile and Tony hurried after her, knowing she was planning a cruel revenge.

"Okay, what is going inside your evil little mind?" he asked and gave Kate a suspicious look. She unlocked the car and glanced up at him across the car roof.

"Now, what makes you think it has anything to do with you?" she asked and Tony let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Don't act innocent with me, Kate! You'll never get away with it…!" he said and Kate gave him a confusing look.

"Get away with what? Tony, aren't you being a bit paranoid?" she asked.

"Don't think I have forgotten about the glue on my chair…I ruined a perfect pair of pants!" Tony said and Kate barely managed to keep herself from laughing.

"Okay…so? What makes you think I did that? You have an incredible gift of annoying people, Tony, which means it could have been anybody in the department" she said and Tony got into the car without saying anything. Kate got in behind the wheels and slowly backed out of the parking spot.

"Could we be moving any slower? I'd like to get home before tomorrow, Kate" Tony said sarcastically but Kate just blocked out his talk like so many other times. She was truly amazed with herself how she managed to do that when it came to Tony. The man wouldn't shut up unless Gibbs was present and Kate wouldn't mind hearing him talk if he actually had something reasonable to say.

"So, I'm thinking you don't wanna do this together?" she suddenly asked after they had been on the road for a while. Tony had nearly dozed off and gave her a confused look.

"Do what together? Wait…please tell me you're still talking about work?" he said, now wide awaken with a frighten look on his face. Kate sighed and stopped at a red light.

"I'm talking about interviewing the neighbors, Tony. Don't flatter yourself" she said with a smirk and Tony gave her a mean look.

"Funny, Kate…funny! Considering how long you take on 'interviewing' people, I think it's safer if we take one side each" he said and Kate shrugged with a devious smile.

"Whatever you say, Tony. That means I'll be able to get some information out of the women" she said and the light turned green.

"They're married, Kate!" Tony said, stating the obvious and Kate glanced at him.

"Oh, like that has ever stopped you before?" she asked with a smirk.

"Okay, you take the left and I take the right" Tony as they were stepping out of the car.

"Wait…why do you get to decide?" Kate asked and Tony sighed.

"Does it really matter, Kate? I just want this to be over as soon as possible! Obviously, you don't have a life to come back for" he said and Kate walked up to him with a mean look in her eyes. At some times, she actually gave Tony the creeps because he never really knew what she was thinking. She wasn't all that predictable like he had thought.

"First of all; you take the left and I take the right. And secondly; stop acting like such an idiot. Although I know that's gotta be difficult, couldn't you at least try while at work?" she asked and walked away with a smirk on her face.

"She really needs to cut down on that coffee…" Tony whispered to himself and walked in the opposite direction. They had plenty of houses to visit before the day ended and knowing Gibbs, he would probably check up on them several times before then.

After having to put up with screaming children, flirting wives and overprotected husbands, Tony couldn't be happier to get outside. He was down at the end of the street and was very tempted to call Gibbs. Although that would probably be taken the wrong way so he just decided to wait for Kate.

"Done already? What did you do; hit on one of the wives?" Kate asked with a smirk when she got outside and found Tony sitting on the sidewalk.

"Would you believe me if I say that it was her hitting on me?" Tony asked with a fake smile and Kate let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah right, Tony! Well, we better get back before Gibbs replaces us with two new agents" she said and started walking towards the car without waiting for Tony.

"Gibbs wouldn't do that! Well, maybe to you…" he said with a smirk but Kate just ignored him once again. She unlocked the car doors and glared at Tony before getting behind the wheels. Spending 4 hours in a car all alone with Tony was something she whished didn't occur as often as it did, but at least it was the weekend soon.

"So what did you found out?" Kate asked suddenly, hoping that Tony would stick to the subject all the way home.

"Not much…nobody of the neighbors I interviewed remembers seeing Mrs. Mathews with any other man then the Commander. Seems like they were the couple that everybody else looked up to. Although I got the feeling he was a little too friendly towards the other wives" Tony added on the end and Kate glanced at him.

"Why do I get the feeling that the wives weren't the ones who gave you that information?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well, maybe because it was some of the husbands. And if more then one says it, maybe it's true? Anyways, apparently Mrs. Mathews isn't very social anymore. She used to be the highlight of the party…until last year" Tony said and looked down at his notepad.

"Probably around the same time she had her famous 'accident'…so nobody suspected that the Commander was abusing her?" Kate asked and took out her notepad with one hand while keeping her eyes on the road.

"Not according to the neighbors I talked to. How about you? Any luck?" Tony asked and Kate glanced down at her notes.

"Well, they said pretty much the same thing. The Mathews' was the perfect couple that had a very loving marriage. None of them thinks that she can have been cheating since she just didn't have the time with all the hours she worked at the school and also did a lot of volunteer work on the weekends…even the holidays" Kate said and stopped at a red light.

"Maybe the whole volunteer thing was just a way to get away from the 'loving' husband? She could have met somebody there" Tony suggested and Kate glanced through her notes before the light turned green.

"Well, there's also a chance that Commander Mathews was just being extremely paranoid. A guy who beats up his wife on a regular basis always want to be in control and considering how much time she spend working, he must have gone mad knowing how many men she would meet" Kate said and put away her notepad.

"So I guess this means double overtime…you know, how come we get to do all the dirty work? Gibbs is much better at getting information out of people and all he needs to do is stare at them!" Tony said and Kate couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, but why do all that when you got people to do it for you?" she said sarcastically.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'slaves'…normal bosses don't make their people work this much overtime" Tony said.

"This is Gibbs we're talking about, Tony. The man spends all his private time in the basement building a boat that probably will never get done. How normal is that?" Kate asked and Tony shrugged.

"When it comes to Gibbs I've learned not to ask any questions. The man is a walking mystery and I would like to keep my job for a few more years" he said.

"So what you're saying is that you're to afraid to ask any questions?" Kate said with a smirk. Tony let out a sarcastic laugh and glared at her.

"No, what I'm saying is that I don't have a death wish" he said.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as they had stepped out of the elevator, they ran into Gibbs. He glared at them both before started walking towards his desk.

"You better have something useful considering how long it took!" he yelled out while both Kate and Tony were trying to keep up with him.

"Well, it wasn't exactly around the corner. Besides, some of the neighbors were…difficult to question properly" Tony said and Gibbs suddenly stopped.

"Do you have something for me or not, DiNozzo?" he asked as he slowly turned around and stared at Tony.

"We got two sides of one story, which means that we need to question Mrs. Mathews' co-workers and the people she met through her volunteer work" Kate said quickly and Gibbs glanced at her.

"So what you're saying is that we still don't know if she was cheating on the Commander or not?" he asked after a moment of silence and Kate nodded.

"Yeah. But this could also mean that Commander Mathews just imagined the whole thing" she said and Gibbs looked at Tony, waiting for him to add something.

"She could be right there, boss. None of the neighbors I questioned could say anything about a possible lover" he said with a frighten look.

"Well, if she was cheating on him, none of the neighbors would be able to tell you about it. Go over to her work first thing tomorrow and question every teacher there; hopefully some one knows something worth reporting about" Gibbs said and walked over to his desk. Tony gave Kate a grateful before sinking down in his chair.

"So you're still sure that she was cheating on him?" Kate asked Gibbs and sat down behind her desk.

"I don't know, Kate, and since Mrs. Mathews wont tell us anything useful then we just have to find out for ourselves. Besides, what makes you so sure that she wasn't cheating on him?" Gibbs asked and looked straight at Kate, waiting for a quick answer.

"It's just that…in a neighborhood like that you would know that kind of things. They probably got tones of gossip on each other but pretends to be the best of friends so the people on the outside thinks they are living in paradise. Which would probably be true if it wasn't for the abusing husband, spoiled children and possibly the cheating wives. And I don't think Mrs. Mathews is one of them" Kate bluntly said to Gibbs and Tony sat completely stunned behind his desk.

"You got all that from a few interviews?" Gibbs asked, slightly amused by Kate's theory.

"No, I got that from just being there outside the fancy houses and looking at their expensive cars. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, Gibbs. Besides, Mrs. Mathews was different then the other wives" Kate said and by now Tony was captivated by the conversation going on. He hid behind his computer, pretending to work but listened into every word that was being said.

"Yeah, she might have killed her husband" Gibbs said sarcastically but Kate ignored his comment, slowly getting out of her chair.

"I mean, there's definitely something strange about her. She knows more then she's telling us and is probably not completely innocent in this. But if she did kill Commander Mathews, I don't think she did it alone. When did Ducky say the Commander died?" Kate asked and walked up to Gibbs' desk.

"Around 5 hours before we got there" Gibbs said slowly and now he wanted to hear more of Kate's little theory. If they were lucky, she could be onto something.

"According to all the neighbors I questioned, Mrs. Mathews didn't get back until 30 minutes before we arrived…how is that even possible? I thought she was the one who called it in?" Kate asked and gave Gibbs a confused look. She then realized that her whole theory was going down the drain.

"It looks like we need to have another chat with the grieving widow" Gibbs said and got out of his chair.

"Seems like she's not so innocent anymore, huh?" Tony asked with a smirk when he walked up next to Kate. She gave him a warning look right before they stepped into the elevator with Gibbs.

"Although you could be right about one thing, Kate" Gibbs suddenly said and Tony gave him a shocking look.

"What? I mean, my whole theory was that she didn't do it…" Kate said.

"Well, my gut is telling me that she couldn't have done it alone. So no lover or not, she got help from somebody. She certainly had the perfect motive" Gibbs said.

"Yeah, but who would gain anything on the Commander's death? At least she would be free from the abuse…" Kate said and trailed off. There was just something strange about Mrs. Mathews that she simply couldn't figure out.

"Apparently she hasn't heard about divorce. How come she just didn't leave him and then report him?" Tony asked and Kate leaned against the wall, going through every possible scenario inside her head without coming up anything.

"Maybe she knew that wouldn't help. If the Commander was as popular as the neighbors were saying, there's no chance anybody would believe her" Gibbs said.

"And it couldn't be because of his life assurance; there's not much money there. Besides, she must have known that we would figure this whole thing out. I mean, from the start something was definitely off about her. She didn't keep up the appearance as the grieving wife and didn't answer any of our questions…" Kate said and remembered her brief interview with Mrs. Mathews at the crime scene.

The way she had avoided her look, the tone of her voice, the look in her eyes; it all was typical for some one who was hiding something.

"So it all comes back to the abuse. Correct me of I'm wrong, but doesn't abused women usually avoid men in general? How can they be able to trust any man after being beaten up on a regular basis?" Gibbs asked and Kate knew he was completely right. Mrs. Mathews had probably been abused for several years, which would make her avoid men. That wasn't anything that was hard to figure out considering her situation.

"Then maybe…it wasn't a lover? I mean, it could still have been a male partner but what makes us so sure that it was romantically? What if he was just a friend that wanted to help her?" Kate asked and gave Tony a warning glance, knowing very well that he could make one of his funny remarks on women having male friends.

"So where is this…friend of hers then? How come he isn't making sure she's not spending the rest of her life in prison?" Gibbs asked and stared at Kate.

"I'll let you know when I find out if there even is a lover involved" Kate said without looking away and the elevator doors opened up.

"Kate, I think it's better if you question Mrs. Mathews alone" Gibbs said, as they were getting closer to the interrogation room.

"And what if she avoids all my questions like before?" Kate asked and looked up at Gibbs.

"She wont once you've explained the sentence you get for murder" Gibbs said.

Kate slowly walked into the room and closed the door behind her. On the other side of the mirror were Tony and Gibbs, watching her every move. They all knew that Mrs. Mathews definitely wasn't the innocent grieving wife that she wanted every one to believe. And the only chance they had for any kind of confession from her was if Kate did the questioning instead of Gibbs.

"Sorry that we kept you waiting, Mrs. Mathews. No hard feelings I hope" Kate said with a weak smile and sat down at the table, her back against the mirror. When Mrs. Mathews didn't take her eyes of the table, Kate took out a folder and put it down right before her.

"Can you tell me whose file this is?" Kate asked and this time Mrs. Mathews looked up at her, but she still didn't speak a word. So Kate slowly opened the folder and took out several photos that had been taken at a hospital one year earlier. She placed out them in a row on the table in front of Mrs. Mathews, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"Now if someone did this do me, I would be pissed. And I certainly wouldn't have returned home for more" Kate said ice cold and stared at Mrs. Mathews.

"I didn't" the woman said suddenly, glancing down at the photos. Kate picked up the one with the broken ribs and took a closer look at it.

"So how come you didn't divorce him then? I mean, the man abused you…broke two of your ribs. And yet you stayed with him?" she asked and glanced at Mrs. Mathews over the photo.

"I didn't have a choice. He would have killed me if I left" Mrs. Mathews said, still avoiding looking at Kate. But at least they had gotten some answers out of her to begin with. Now all Kate needed was a name of the potential lover.

"So that's why you killed him first?" she bluntly asked and Mrs. Mathews gave her a shocking look. Which didn't fool Kate for one second.

"I did not kill my husband!" Mrs. Mathews yelled out and pushed all the photos down on the floor without any hesitation. Kate got out of her chair and walked around the table.

"Why not? I mean, you had the motive and no jury would have the heart to convict you. It was all done in self-defense against your abusing husband…some people would probably want to give you a medal for it" Kate said and leaned in close to the woman, giving her a very serious look.

"It doesn't matter because I didn't kill him! So just leave me alone!" Mrs. Mathews said and kept avoiding looking at Kate.

"Sorry, can't do that. Not until you've given me a name" Kate said ice cold. She didn't move and kept staring at Mrs. Mathews, waiting for an answer of some sort.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" Mrs. Mathews yelled out and glanced up at Kate. But her little act still didn't fool Kate one bit.

"Give it up, Jane. I didn't believe you back at the house and I don't believe you now. So either you give me the name of your partner or you're gonna be enjoying spending the rest of your life in jail!" Kate said and this time Mrs. Mathews stared her right in the eye.

"Adam Fowler…" she finally whispered and turned away.

"Thank you" Kate said in a low voice and walked out of the room.

"Woah! Nice work, Kate!" Tony said with an impressive smile just as Kate had closed the door behind her.

"Thank you, Tony! Now all we need to do is to found this…Adam Fowler" Kate said and all three began to walk back towards the elevators.

"Maybe I should let you handle more questionings from now on?" Gibbs said with a smile and Kate pushed the elevator button.

"Oh, I don't know about that, but it was very…interesting to do it on my own" she said and leaned against the wall as the elevator slowly moved upward.


	4. Chapter 4

NOTE: I wont be able to update for about a week or so because I'm also working on another fan fiction.

"Looks like we got a new suspect, boss" Tony suddenly said and Gibbs looked up from his desk. Kate left her computer and walked over to Tony with a wondering expression on her face. It wasn't every day that Tony managed to pull out some clues before they did. Especially not consider how much nonsense babbling he did all days long.

"What did you find?" Kate asked and Tony pointed at the computer screen with a smirk.

"Our mystery lover has a criminal record; did two years for stealing a little too much money from his previous work. And it looks like he nearly got convicted once before that and you know what that means…" Tony said and Kate gave him one of her glares.

"Yes, I do, but thanks for pointing out it for me, Tony. Now, did you manage to get his address as well?" she asked while glancing through Adam Fowler's record.

"Sure did! He lives on 23rd Warden Street" Tony said, still with the same smirk.

"But we still don't know how they met…I mean, the woman hardly had any life except for her husband and possibly tea parties with the neighbor wives. How could she manage to have a lover and nobody finding out about it? Except possibly a paranoid abusive husband? This is all just a little too weird" Kate said and walked over to her desk.

"Ah, Kate…when are you gonna learn? People do weird things all the time! No use trying to figure it all out!" Tony said and got out of his chair.

"He's right, Kate. I stopped trying to figure people out a long time ago" Gibbs said with his eyes on the computer screen.

"Well, I'm sorry, but that's just not possible for me" Kate said as she grabbed her things and headed for the elevator without waiting for Tony as usual.

When finally arriving outside of Adam Fowler's house, Tony quickly turned off the car engine and looked over at Kate.

"You okay?" he asked and Kate gave him a weak smile before opening the door.

"I'm fine" she said and slowly stepped out of the car, staring up at the small house that seemed disgustingly perfect on the outside. But doubtfully perfect on the inside.

"What are the chances that he's actually home?" Tony asked sarcastically and Kate couldn't help but smile at him. All they could do for now was to question this Adam Fowler and hope that he was willing to collaborate with them.

Kate knocked on the door and Tony glanced in through a window, both ready in case their suspect would be a violent man. The thought had occurred Kate earlier considering that Mrs. Mathews would probably choose another abusive man.

"Doesn't seem like Fowler is in" Tony said after a while and Kate glanced at him, knocking on the door once more. She wasn't about to give up so easily.

"You looking for Adam?"

Both Tony and Kate turned around and found themselves staring at an older man, standing on the other side of the fence.

"Yeah…you know where we can find him? It's very important" Kate said and let go of her gun. She slowly walked down the stairs and towards the fence.

"Haven't seen him for days now. Probably visiting his girlfriend or something" the man said and shrugged.

"Is this her?" Kate asked and took a picture of Mrs. Mathews, holding it up for the man. He leaned in closer and took a good look at the picture before nodding slowly.

"Yep, that looks like her. Been here a few times over the last month so I figured things were going pretty well" he said and Kate glanced back at Tony.

"Did Mr. Fowler often visit his…girlfriend?" she asked and the man shrugged again.

"Don't know. Adam is a private man and usually keeps to himself. But I did see him and some other fellow fighting a couple of days ago" the man suddenly said and now he had both agents full attention.

"Do you know what the fight was about?" Kate asked and exchanged looks with Tony.

"Probably about his girlfriend. Even though Adam mostly kept to himself, he sure did have a lot of women coming visiting him" the man said with a big grin. Kate sighed and glanced at Tony, who for once kept a straight face when talking about women.

"Do you happen to recall what this man looked like?" she asked when turning her attention back to the neighbor.

"Well, he was wearing some kind of a uniform so I'm guessing he's in the Army or the Navy" the man said and Kate looked at him for a while, not saying anything. They had just gotten the information they needed for the case, so why wasn't she pleased?

"Thank you for your corporation. You've been very helpful" she finally said with a polite smile and started walking back to the car with Tony.

"It sure doesn't look good for Adam Fowler and even less good for Mrs. Mathews" he said as they were stepping into the car. Kate kept silent and got her seat belt on.

"What's wrong? You still think Mrs. Mathews' innocent? The woman gave you the name of her lover which proves that Commander Mathews wasn't just a paranoid husband, and for all we know she could probably have hired Adam Fowler to kill the Commander" Tony said and Kate looked at him without saying anything at first.

"But why would she give out his name that easily, if it meant she would get blamed for everything? You know, none of this makes any sense!" she said and Tony started the engine with an amusing smile.

"You just can't let it go, can you? It's driving you nuts trying to figure it all out! People do the most weirdest things without it making any sense" he said while turning the car away from Adam Fowler's house.

"But there's still so much missing! I mean, we have the name for this 'lover' that seems to have disappeared and not any real evidence that says the wife did it!" Kate said and Tony could tell the whole was upsetting her, even though she wouldn't admit it.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked one last time and she let out a groan, looking out the window as they drove out of the neighborhood.

"Yes, I'm fine" she said finally, not even glancing at Tony.

Kate stepped out of the elevator with a puzzled look upon her face. She just couldn't help but go through all the possible scenarios as to why Mrs. Mathews kept information from them. They still didn't know what it was but Kate wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"How did it go with the lover?" Gibbs suddenly asked from his desk. When Kate didn't answer right away, he looked up from his computer and noticed that she was seated at her desk but didn't seem to have heard his question.

"Kate, some kind of answer would be nice" he said and she looked up at him.

"What?" she asked and this time Gibbs got out of his chair. He slowly walked up to her desk and gave her a long stare.

"Adam Fowler; what did he have to say?" he said after a few moments of silence.

"Well, he wasn't home but we did talk to one of his neighbors. And it looks like Commander Mathews was fighting with Adam Fowler just a few days ago, probably something about his wife which also happened to be Fowler's girlfriend" Kate said, glancing through her notes on her Palm Pilot.

"So why aren't you out looking for him?" Gibbs asked.

"Tony is checking the place where he works some days and I'm going to have another friendly chat with Mrs. Mathews. Hopefully she can give me some straight answers this time" Kate said and Gibbs gave her an approving look.

"Let me know how it goes" he simply said and walked back to his desk.

"Wait…you're not even gonna supervise?" Kate asked and got out of her chair with a confused look.

"You can handle this one on your own. Besides, Mrs. Mathews will probably feel more comfortable talking if she knew nobody was watching" Gibbs said and sat down in his office chair. Kate walked up to his desk, still with a confused look.

"Is there a problem?" Gibbs asked, already sounding annoyed.

"Well, it's just that…you've never _not_ supervised before" Kate said and Gibbs was now staring at her, not saying a word.

After standing there a few minutes in silence, Kate turned around and headed for the elevator down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate had been wrong; Mrs. Mathews wasn't any helpful this time either. She avoided practically all the questions and played the part as the grieving wife perfectly. Kate almost let the tears cloud her judgment more then once, but every time she managed to stay neutral and keep on asking questions.

"For the last time, Jane, do you know Adam Fowler? Because I got a witness that says you were his girlfriend…now, that couldn't have pleased your husband" Kate snapped and sat down in the chair across the table from Mrs. Mathews. She had been wandering around the interrogation room several times the last two hours and was nearly going insane if she had to stay in the room much longer.

"I wasn't his girlfriend!" Mrs. Mathews suddenly yelled out and Kate leaned in closer.

"So why have you been around his place over the past month?" she asked stone cold and stared at Mrs. Mathews in silence.

"Because…we used to work together. Sometimes I volunteer at a shelter downtown and that's where we me. Adam has worked there for years now and he showed me around the place" Mrs. Mathews explained without looking up at Kate.

"That still doesn't explain what you were doing in his home…giving the impression that you were his girlfriend" Kate said and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair.

"We were working on a project together and that's why I was over there. When my husband left for work I usually waited a few hours before going over there and always made sure I was back in time to make dinner" Mrs. Mathews explained and this time she looked up straight at Kate. There was something in her eyes that made the whole story even more doubtful. Kate still hadn't figure out what it was but she forced herself not to leave until she knew the whole truth.

"So tell me…what kind of project was this? Saving all the homeless people? Cure cancer? Adopt all the orphans?" Kate asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm and Mrs. Mathews gave her a hurt look across the table.

"We tried to think of a way to increase the people down at the shelter. If more people worked there, then more homeless could be helped" she said after a while.

"Really? Now, did you discuss this before or after you had sex?" Kate asked and Mrs. Mathews gave her a shocked look.

"I wasn't involved with Adam Fowler! You know, I can't believe how some one like you can be allowed to be an agent!" Mrs. Mathews said and Kate couldn't help but smile at her. Although, it wasn't a friendly smile. She was used to questioning suspects for hours but this time it was different. She was just wandering around circles with this suspect and she didn't have that much patience left.

"Jane, today is your lucky day, because I'm willing to cut you a deal if you actually tell me the truth. And trust me; if you so much tell one little white lie, I will find out about it and then you will be telling this story in court" Kate said and stood up, walking around the table to Mrs. Mathews. She decided to try one last time before giving it a break and then getting Gibbs. Then Mrs. Mathews would have to tell the truth no matter what.

"Why don't you talk to Adam? He can explain why I was at his place all those times! And I don't need a deal because I didn't have anything to do with my husband's death! God, I wasn't even home when it happened!" Mrs. Mathews yelled out and Kate walked up to the door, before slowly turning around.

"If I were you, Mrs. Mathews, I would place a call to my attorney right about now" she said and quickly left the room after that. She decided that it was time to visit Ducky in the autopsy to found out more about Commander Mathews' death.

Gibbs turned around and met Kate's eyes as she walked in through the door to autopsy.

"I thought you were having another friendly chat with our grieving widow?" he asked and turned his attention back to Ducky. They were standing bend over Commander Mathews' body and Kate slowly walked up to them.

"Well, things didn't go exactly as planned. She still denies having anything to do with her husband's death and Adam Fowler just a friend she met down at the shelter. So basically, we still got nothing" Kate said to Gibbs with her eyes on the dead body.

"Actually, it seems that our Commander died of long term poisoning, which was probably mixed in his food or drinks. And I also discovered this during the autopsy" Ducky explained and pointed at several big bruises all over the Commander's chest.

"Wait…_he_ was being abused?" Kate asked and noticed how Gibbs also could see the irony in that. This case was only making less sense then before.

"I also found some old bruising which indicate that somebody beat the Commander up rather badly, almost on a regular basis" Ducky said and hinted at the X-rays behind Kate.

"Well, it couldn't have been Mrs. Mathews considering the Commander is twice her size…and I don't think she would have the courage to do it" Kate said with a puzzled look upon her face.

"No, I hardly think this was made by a woman. The bruises are quite deep and have been inflicted by somebody with great strength, which I doubt the wife has" Ducky said and Kate nodded slowly.

"Have you been able to establish a time of death?" she asked, still thinking about the last thing Mrs. Mathews had said before she left the room.

"Oh, I would that he died about…24 hours ago" Ducky said and Kate looked up at him, as if to make sure he wasn't kidding.

"24 hours? You're completely sure?" she asked and Gibbs was now ignoring the body, staring at Kate across the autopsy table.

"What's the problem?" he asked and Kate slowly took her eyes off the dead body.

"Mrs. Mathews said that she wasn't even home when it happened…now, where was she for the last 24 hours then? And how come she didn't tell the police that from the start?" Kate asked and looked up at Gibbs.

"Because she's not innocent" Gibbs said and walked out of the autopsy. Kate quickly turned around and nearly ran after him to keep up.

"You going to talk to her, aren't you? Gibbs, she's probably just going to deny it. I think it's better if we try to collect some more evidence before questioning her again" she said and Gibbs suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Kate nearly bumped into him and wasn't so sure anymore about what she had just said.

"Right now, Mrs. Mathews is just about the only evidence we got. And she definitely knows more then she says, which also means that she knows where Adam Fowler is. Now, do I really need to explain to you why I'm going to question her?" Gibbs asked sarcastically and Kate slowly shook her head.

"Good! Now, I want _you_ to visit the shelter where both the suspects worked together…and take Tony with you" Gibbs said and headed down towards the elevator.

"What? But Gibbs, he's…!" Kate shouted but Gibbs was already out of hearing range.

Tony was just getting back from interviewing Adam Fowler's co-workers, when Kate stepped out of the elevator and took the car keys away from him.

"Let's go, Tony! Gibbs wants us to go down to the shelter where Adam Fowler worked with Mrs. Mathews!" she yelled out while continue to walk towards the car.

"Oh, come on, Kate! Can't you do that on your own?" Tony said and took a few steps closer towards the elevator. Kate unlocked the car and slowly turned around.

"Gibbs' orders, not mine!" she said and got into the car. Tony glanced at the elevator and then nearly ran back to the car without another complaint.

"So you really think Fowler is down at the shelter?" Tony asked as Kate turned the car out of the parking lot.

"Hard to say, and I'm not about to question Gibbs' orders. May as well be there for all we know" she said and Tony knew that she was right. You just didn't question Gibbs' orders unless you had some sort of death wish. Kate had picked up on this unwritten rule early in the beginning when she started working at NCIS, and so far she had survived.

"I just don't get why a guy like Fowler would wanna spend his spare time working at some shelter" Tony said with a puzzled look and Kate glared at him for a second.

"Well, there's a surprise" she said sarcastically and Tony gave her a warning look.

"Believe it or not, but I have actually thought about doing some volunteer work" he said with a proud smile and Kate sighed.

"Tony, I hardly think you're going to meet any single women there" she said, very well knowing that Tony wasn't really paying attention to her anymore.

"Hey, how come Gibbs isn't going with us?" he suddenly asked, completely oblivious to Kate's comment a few seconds earlier.

"Because he's questioning Mrs. Mathews about the last 24 hours…apparently the grieving wife wasn't at home when her husband died" Kate said while keeping her eyes on the road. Tony gave her a confused stare and she realized that he wasn't present when Ducky had stated the time of death.

"It seems that Commander Mathews died 24 hours ago and Mrs. Mathews herself said that she wasn't home when it happened" she quickly explained and turned right, noticing Tony thinking long and hard about something.

"So…if she doesn't have a relationship with Fowler, then where was she? I mean, 24 hours is a long time to be away from home without any of the neighbors noticing" he said after a few minutes and Kate nodded.

"Which is why Gibbs wanted to talk with her, sending you and me down to the shelter. Hopefully some of the people working there can give us a clue as to where Fowler is hiding" she said and Tony went back to staring out the car window.

The shelter gave Tony the creeps. He looked around the place with a frown and was careful not to touch anything in there. Kate took the lead as soon as they stepped into the shelter and walked straight up to an older man, which seemed to be the manager.

"Excuse me! Does Adam Fowler work here?" she asked and flashed her badge when the man turned around.

"Well…yeah, but not today. It's Tuesday so he will probably be in tomorrow" the man said, suddenly looking very nervous. Kate and Tony glanced at each other before taking a few steps closer.

"Do you happen to know where he is today? We really need to talk with him" Kate said and narrowed her eyes.

"I might…he was here earlier and wondered if he could borrow my car for some emergency. Apparently he couldn't talk about it and looked pretty scared" the man said and Kate looked up at Tony, both knowing all to well why Adam Fowler was scared.

"And did you borrow him your car?" Kate then asked and the man shook his head.

"No way! Look, Adam is a nice guy and all but I don't trust him enough considering his past" he said and Kate wrote it all down in her Palm Pilot.

"Any idea where he might have gone now?" Tony asked.

"My guess is home. He mentioned something about catching a bus out of town, and all his stuff is at home so…" the man said and Kate nodded quickly.

"Thanks for your help" she said and headed out of the shelter with Tony right behind her.

"You really think Fowler is dumb enough to return home when he's gotta know we're looking for him?" Tony asked as they got into the car.

"From what I've heard about the man, it wouldn't surprise me if he even returned to the crime scene" Kate said sarcastically and started the engine.

"True. But if he's home, we should call for back up" Tony said.

"And give him the chance to bolt? I don't think so! It's better and less suspicious if it's just us, although I suggest you keep your mouth shut" Kate said and Tony gave her a hurt look. It was one thing when Gibbs told him to shut up, since he was the boss. But when Kate started giving him orders like that, he definitely wanted an explanation.

"And who left you in charge? I don't take orders from anybody else except Gibbs!" he said and Kate glared at him.

"I'm not ordering you, Tony, I'm simply giving you an advice. It's probably better if I do all the talking with this suspect" she said and stopped at a red light.

"Because he's a guy? I never took for that kind of woman, Kate" Tony said with a smirk and Kate narrowed her eyes.

"Grow up, Tony!" she hissed and took a left after the traffic light turned green.


	6. Chapter 6

There was no sign of Adam Fowler outside his house. His car was in the driveway so they knew that he must be home. Kate parked the car a bit further up the street so that he wouldn't notice them straight away.

"Aren't you coming?" Kate asked Tony as she was stepping out of the car.

"Just gonna make a quick phone call first" he said and Kate quickly grabbed his mobile.

"No you're not. Tony, haven't you ever questioned a suspect before? There's no need to call Gibbs on this one" she said and slammed the car door shut before Tony had time to react at all. He sighed and slowly got out of the car with a frown upon his face.

"Don't you think you're overdoing this, Kate?" he asked as they started walking towards Adam Fowler's gate.

"No, I don't. And before you ask; I'm not trying to prove anything here! All we're doing is trying to talk to a potential suspect in a murder case…just like any other day" Kate said with a sarcastic smile and opened up the gate.

"You don't have a personal life, do you? This stuff probably is what…" Tony started of saying, but Kate quickly turned around and glared at him.

"Tony, trust me on this; you don't wanna finish that sentence. Because if you do then…well, I'm sure you can figure it out for yourself" she said with a smirk and continued to walk towards the front door.

"Kate, you _really_ gotta start cutting down on all that coffee!" Tony said when they were standing up on the front porch, right outside the front door.

"Coffee is what makes me survive all those hours with you and Gibbs" Kate said and Tony let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Really? And here I thought it was because you liked us so much!" he said and Kate couldn't help but smile at him.

"Only on the good days, Tony" she said while knocking on the door. Tony glanced in through the windows again but couldn't see a thing.

"Looks like he isn't home after all" he said and shrugged.

"His car is in the driveway, and I seriously doubt he's planning on walking all the way down to the bus station" Kate said and knocked harder this time.

"Then where is he? The house looks pretty abandoned to me" Tony said and Kate sighed.

"You know what, Tony? They're suspects for a reason! And since he knows that we're onto him, he's not just going to answer the door out of the blue! So why don't you just check out the back while I keep trying this?" Kate asked, although Tony knew she wasn't really asking him. She was in an annoying mood and he knew better then to spend any longer time with an angry Kate.

"Okay…! But I don't think we're going to find him this time either" Tony said and slowly walked down the stairs. Kate knocked once again on the door, this time even harder then earlier. She let out a groan and suddenly took a few steps away from the door.

"Tony! Don't forget to check the back door!" she yelled out, hoping that Tony had heard her even though he was in the backyard.

"Men…!" she mumbled to herself and was just about to knock again, when a shot was fired. Thousands of small wooden parts flew across the porch and Kate quickly jumped away from the door.

"Kate! You alright?" Tony yelled out as he was coming around the corner. Kate nodded at him and picked up her gun, making her way back towards the door. But she didn't get far until the second shot was fired. This time the rest of the door went along with it and knocked Kate off the porch. She could hear shots from two sides now but didn't move an inch from her spot in the grass. Her gun had fallen out of her hand and she couldn't see it anywhere. Carefully turning her head the other way, she felt a sudden pain in her left upper arm. Technically her whole body was hurting from the fall but this was different. After what felt like a lifetime, the gunfire stopped and a few moments later she heard Tony's voice from a distance.

"Kate? Kate, answer me!" he yelled out and Kate did her best to keep her eyes open, but it didn't work. Everything became burry and within seconds she had passed out.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; I did not kill my husband!" Mrs. Mathews yelled out and Gibbs continued on staring at her across the table.

"Yeah? How come I still don't believe you then?" he asked sarcastically and Mrs. Mathews let out a groan, looking away.

"You know, it's not always the wife…" she whispered with her eyes staring down at the floor. Gibbs leaned back in the chair with an amusing smile. For once in over an hour he was actually getting somewhere with this woman. He could understand why Kate had given up on her twice.

"What did he do to you?" he asked suddenly and she looked up at him with fear in her eyes. At least that's what she tried making it look like, but Gibbs still got that funny feeling just like Kate had gotten.

"You know what he did…you've read my medical journal and probably seen those pictures as well. I may not have loved him at the end but I could never kill him _or_ anybody else for that matter!" she said and didn't look away this time.

"He died of poisoning, which is known to be the female way of killing someone…and this time it looks like it was premeditated" Gibbs said and Mrs. Mathews for once didn't look shock. She seemed completely untouched by this information, which only made Gibbs even surer that she was murderer.

"And? Still doesn't prove anything. I'm innocent and all your evidence says so" she said stone cold but Gibbs just smiled at her.

"No, what our evidence tells us is that your husband died of long term poisoning and abuse. And I bet you are guilty for one of those two things!" he said and Mrs. Mathews shook her head.

"Not true. You're out on thin ice here" she said with a sarcastic smile.

"Actually, I think it's the other way around. What happened to the grieving wife? Did she suddenly move on under these couple hours?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

"Look, like I already told Agent Todd twice; I didn't kill my husband! Yes, he was a bastard and deserved to die but I didn't touch him. I wasn't even home then so how is that even possible? God, you think two agents would catch on the first time but apparently not…" she said and shook her head.

"Then you don't mind telling me why you didn't see your husband for the past 24 hours? Apparently you also told Agent Todd that you weren't home when he died, which happened to be little over 24 hours ago" Gibbs said and watched Mrs. Mathews suddenly freeze. This time she didn't look so confident and he knew what she just realized.

"I was at a friend's house…we've had another fight and I didn't want to spend the night with him" she said after a while.

"And why didn't you tell agent Todd this? Might have done your case some good" Gibbs said and Mrs. Mathews leaned back, with the same confident look as earlier.

"I didn't think of it then. But I'm telling you and that's gotta prove something" she said.

"Oh yeah…! Only not what you might think. See, it's just a matter of time before the evidence tells us who the murderer is and then it's too late for both of you. So I suggest you tell your side of the story _now_" Gibbs said and Mrs. Mathews just shrugged.

"Already did. Three times now and soon I'm calling my lawyer" she said.

"How come you haven't already? You're our primary murder suspect without a lawyer; not very good odds" Gibbs said with a smirk.

"I'll take my chances…for now" Mrs. Mathews whispered and in that moment Gibbs' phone started ringing. He glared at Mrs. Mathews before quickly stepping outside the interrogation room. He glanced down at the caller ID and held back a groan.

"This better be damn good, Tony!" he snapped and walked into the observation room. His face expression slowly changed from annoyed to concerned and he slowly turned around from the window.

"She alright? How about Fowler? Good…yeah, do that. And then you better have a damn good explanation as to how this happened!" Gibbs said and quickly hung up before Tony had the chance to argue with him. He took a good look at Mrs. Mathews through the window before walking out of the observation room.

"Important call?" Mrs. Mathews asked sarcastically when Gibbs entered the interrogation room again.

"You could say that" he said and sat down at the table across from her.

"Is there a problem?" Mrs. Mathews asked with almost an amused look upon her face.

"Well, I guess you of all people deserves to know…Fowler is dead. One of my agents killed him almost an hour ago" Gibbs said and leaned back in his chair. He did his best to wait her out and not to lose his temper. But he knew it wouldn't so easy. This woman knew exactly what she was doing and couldn't be played.

"So? I hardly knew this Adam Fowler!" Mrs. Mathews yelled out.

"Then why did you give out his name? You know, I bet your husband wasn't being paranoid. You were probably over at Fowler's place while he was at your home; killing your husband" Gibbs said and leaned in closer.

"You try explaining that to a jury" Mrs. Mathews said with a smirk.

"No need; once the evidence tells us just how involved you are…no jury in the country will be able to save you" Gibbs said stone cold and for a moment Mrs. Mathews froze. She didn't say another word and avoided looking at him, which wasn't good for either of them. Gibbs couldn't just go in his instincts on this one; he needed her to answer all their questions in full sentences for once. They were so close at getting her and yet so far away. Every word she had said so far couldn't be used in any court.

The doctor had said that all needed now was some rest. But Kate refused to go home, knowing that they were so close at getting Mrs. Mathews convicted for everything. Adam Fowler had obviously not been completely innocent but it all came back to Mrs. Mathews at the end. But Kate knew that Gibbs wouldn't let her question anybody after what had happened, and there would be no talk of working out in the field for weeks to come. She was stuck behind her desk during the investigation regarding the shooting. Which probably could have been avoided if she'd only let Tony make that quick phone call to Gibbs in the first place.

"You know, maybe you should get some rest" Tony suddenly said after they had gotten into the elevator.

"I'll be fine, Tony. The doctor said that the wound wasn't very deep and that I should rest _if_ I feel tired. Which I don't" Kate said and leaned against the wall. The truth was that she was exhausted and her whole body was still sore after the fall. But the worse part was that she had been shot in the arm and was forced to wear a sling for many weeks.

"After what you've been through, I can't believe you don't go home instead of meeting the wrath of Gibbs" Tony said and Kate gave him a weak smile.

"Well, it was my decision not to call for back up so it only serves me right" she said and suddenly the elevator doors opened. A part of her didn't want to step out but she knew she had to. It had been her own decision to go back to the office; very well knowing that Gibbs would be pissed at her.

"It's not too late to go home" Tony said, noticing very well that Kate was hesitate.

"I'm fine, Tony" she said and quickly stepped out of the elevator. She moved across the floor as fast as always and soon reached her desk.

"Look, Kate, I really don't think it's such a good idea. I mean, you're already hurt…why don't you let me handle Gibbs? I'm almost immune to the man by now anyways" Tony offered one last time as he watched Kate putting down her gun in her desk drawer.

"Really, Tony, I'm okay with it. You shouldn't take the blame for something I did" she said while avoiding eye contact and managed to take off her coat.

"Well, I'm still gonna get more then just a slap to the head, so it really doesn't matter" Tony said and Kate managed to smiled at him.

"Can't help you there I'm afraid" she said and started walking down the hall, towards the elevator that would take her down to the interrogation rooms.

"The way I see it, we can both go home and not see Gibbs until tomorrow. I mean, we went through a horrible experience together so why don't we deserve some rest?" Tony asked with a hopeful smile as he stepped into the elevator after Kate.

"You go home, Tony. I still have some unfinished business…and I'm not just talking about Gibbs" she said and leaned against the wall. She just wanted for the day to end happily after what had happened, and then she could allow herself some rest. Her body wouldn't function very well for much longer without taking the pressure off.

"You're seriously gonna try talking to Mrs. Mathews again?" Tony asked and Kate nodded slowly. She counted the floors before the elevator finally stopped with a loud ding.

"Here we go…!" she said with a tired smile and stepped out.

Gibbs slowly got out of the chair when the door to the observation room opened. Kate walked into the room with a steady look in her eyes. She didn't break eye contact but Gibbs could tell that she wasn't proud of herself. After starting working at NCIS, Kate had adjusted quickly and did her work without any complains. She knew what had to be done to catch the guilty ones and it wasn't that much that Gibbs had to teach her. She hadn't done anything that came with a warning, until today. Gibbs couldn't imagine that she had been so reckless; that was something he had expected from Tony.

"So…any of you gonna tell me how the hell his happened? I clearly remember giving orders to go down to the shelter where Fowler worked. I did not mention one word about going back to his home" Gibbs said in a calm tone of voice. Tony knew this could never good; it meant quite the opposite actually.

"The manager at the shelter told us that Fowler had requested to borrow his car. When he refused, we figured Fowler would be taking a bus out of town. Which required returning home to gather some things for the trip" Kate said, sounding ever so polite. Tony glanced at her across the room; hardly believe that she could stay so calm.

"So you drove over there, hoping to get lucky?" Gibbs asked, his voice not sounding so calm anymore. Tony still kept quiet since Gibbs was fixated on Kate at the moment.

"Something like that. We saw his car in the driveway and that's when I decided to make contact with the suspect" Kate said, still not looking away as Gibbs took a step closer.

"And what gave _you_ the right to decide that, Agent Todd? Last time I checked, you obey the orders given by your boss, which would be me. You do not 'make contact' with a potential killer!" he yelled out but Kate didn't even budge. She was used to Gibbs raising his voice to a point where some people would run, but she refused to.

"I made a mistake, assuming that Fowler would corporate with us after all" she said.

"You risked the whole investigation by confronting him like that! Why the hell didn't you call for back up?" Gibbs yelled out, now looking at Tony.

"I wouldn't let him" Kate said with her eyes on the wall, noticing how Gibbs slowly turned his attention back to her.

"Because you wanted to catch Fowler yourself? I never thought you could be that stupid, Kate!" he snapped and Kate glanced at him. He still looked pissed and she didn't know what to say to make the situation any better.

"I did it so that we would have enough evidence to convict Mrs. Mathews for the murder, and nothing else. And if you don't believe that, then it just shows how little you know me" Kate said and Tony didn't know what to expect next. He had never heard anybody disagreeing with Gibbs at times like this.

"When I hired you, I didn't think you would be reckless enough to nearly get yourself killed while working a simple murder case! I can't afford losing an agent at a time like this…so if you got some kind of death wish, deal with it on your spare time!" Gibbs said and glared at Kate before walking over to the window. He studied Mrs. Mathews quietly with his back against Tony and Kate, trying to calm down. Which was never easy for him. Especially working on a case that could have been solved hours earlier.

"How badly do you want to nail her?" Gibbs suddenly asked with his eyes fixated on Mrs. Mathews. Kate gave Tony a confused look before looking over at Gibbs.

"No more then you" she said after a while and Gibbs turned around.

"Then get her to confess. And before you ask; that's an order" he said stone cold and walked out of the observation room. Kate gave Tony one last look before disappearing out after him.


	7. Chapter 7

Mrs. Mathews could hardly hide the confident smirk when she noticed Kate walking into the interrogation room. She had a few small brushes in her face and the sling could only mean one thing; Adam had gotten a clean shot before he died.

She leaned back in her chair again and studied Kate across the table, refusing to speak. Did Gibbs seriously think that she would reveal her deepest secrets just because there was a female agent in the room? He wasn't so smart after all then.

"Why didn't you tell us that Adam killed your husband?" Kate asked suddenly, breaking the tense silence. She was leaning against the wall, not having the strength to sit down.

"I didn't know he did it…how could you?" Mrs. Mathews asked and stared at Kate. She noticed that the agent was leaning against the wall instead of sitting down. Apparently it wasn't just the gun wound that was hurting. She hardly moved and Mrs. Mathews knew it must be painful still standing up. Not that she knew all the details of the shooting but she had a pretty good guess.

"Because Adam told us…right before things got a little out of hand. He practically bragged about it and told us some pretty interesting things about you. See, your relationship with him was so much more then just professional" Kate said while keeping a straight face. Gibbs glanced at her from across the room, wondering the same thing as Mrs. Mathews. Why was she still standing up, leaning against the wall? The chair at the table was empty and it would be a whole lot more comfortable sitting down. Especially considering how long it would take for Mrs. Mathews to confess.

"Well, then he's lying. I never cheated on my husband…although I had ever right, since he wasn't exactly faithful to me" Mrs. Mathews said with a devious smile.

"I think you're the one who's telling the lies, Jane. See, a guy like Adam doesn't have anything to lose if the truth comes out. He doesn't have any neighborhood gossip to worry about or any reputation to protect…unlike you. What would the people at your school say if they found out the real truth? That maybe you weren't the innocent, abused wife that was hopelessly devoted to her husband?" Kate asked and Mrs. Mathews' quickly stopped smiling. Something in her eyes quickly changed and for the first time in hours, she almost looked frightened. As if Kate had actually figured it all out.

"That is just silly speculations, Agent Todd" Mrs. Mathews said after a while.

"Could be…but they're not. You know, I was actually surprised to hear that you didn't have courage enough to kill him yourself. Why hiring Adam to do it? If he would be arrested, then he would blame it all on you in a heartbeat. But if you were to confess right away, claiming it was self-defense, then you would only get a few years considering your spotless record" Kate said with a smirk. Gibbs walked over and sat down in the chair, waiting from some kind of response from their suspect.

"What makes you think I wouldn't have had the courage? I'm no coward if that's what you're implying" Mrs. Mathews said and gave Kate a warning look.

"I'm not implying anything, Jane, I'm simply stating the obvious. You were afraid of doing it yourself…which is why you somehow talked Adam into doing it. Then when he was convicted for the murder, you would be free of both" Kate said, still with a smirk. And it was slowly getting on Mrs. Mathews' nerves but she did her best to hide it. But nothing got past Gibbs as usual. He observed her closely while being very pleased with Kate's way of handling the interrogation.

"You're not stating anything, Agent Todd, because you know nothing about me. I'm no coward and _if_ I wanted to kill my husband, I would have done it all by myself" Mrs. Mathews said and Kate looked thoughtful for a moment, before slowly shaking her head.

"I know your type, Jane, and deep down they are cowards. Why else would you stay married to an abusive husband for all those years? You were afraid of making it alone…without having anybody to rely on. Probably goes back to a childhood that was everything but blissful. Did your father treat you the same?" Kate asked sarcastically and this time Mrs. Mathews actually got out of her chair.

"That is none of your business! My childhood has absolutely nothing to do with this!" she yelled out and Kate's smirk quickly disappeared.

"The hell it does and you just proved it, Jane" she said stone cold and Mrs. Mathews stepped away from her chair.

"You know, for an agent you really suck at reading people" she said, slowly becoming calm again. But Kate wasn't worried this time because they were already half way towards a confession.

"I don't need to be an agent to read you well, Jane. You're so predictable that you give yourself away as soon as somebody figures out that you're…a coward" Kate said and Mrs. Mathews took a few steps closer.

"Don't call me that! After what I've been through, you don't become a coward! I survived those years with him because I wasn't a coward…but somebody like you could never understand that!" Mrs. Mathews said and Kate still kept a straight face.

"Oh yeah? Well, what do _you_ call a person that poisons a man one last time before he's beaten to death? Because to me, that sounds like a coward" Kate said and she could tell that Mrs. Mathews wouldn't stay calm much longer.

"If you think that I poisoned my husband, then you're wrong once more! You just don't know when stop, do you? I didn't kill my husband and I didn't convince Adam Fowler to do so! I've told you this a thousand times and still you don't get it! God…!" Mrs. Mathews yelled out and walked over to the other end of the room.

"I get that you're a terrible liar who apparently doesn't know when to confess. Because if you keep lying much longer, Jane, then you'll spend an extra few years behind bars" Kate stated and Mrs. Mathews slowly turned around.

"Why would I spend any time at all in jail if I'm a coward? No cowards spends time in jail since they are too afraid to commit any crimes" she said and Gibbs glanced over at Kate, knowing that she had a point there.

"Because you're nothing like them. You weren't too afraid to poison your husband…but that really didn't kill him. So Adam gets all the credit for his death and not you. Now, is that fair? After all, he didn't do all those horrible things to Adam for all those years; he did them to you" Kate said and begged for Mrs. Mathews to confess soon. Her whole body was hurting even more now and she didn't know for how long she would be able to stand up straight. If she moved now, it would be way too painful for her to handle. Especially not in front of a suspect that was so close to defeat.

"Why would I want any credit for my husband's death?" Mrs. Mathews asked, once again trying to play the grieving wife although she knew they wouldn't fall for it.

"To prove that you're not a coward after all. Make me believe that you actually have some courage left…but it's not working, Jane. I see right through you and there's nothing you can do about it" Kate said and Mrs. Mathews narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not a coward!" she whispered and Gibbs knew they had her. He slowly got out of his chair and gave Kate a look before facing Mrs. Mathews.

"Then why didn't you kill him yourself? Your actions speak for you, Jane, and it doesn't look very promising" Kate said and shrugged. Mrs. Mathews was quiet for a while and didn't even look at either Kate or Gibbs.

"Do you know how hard it is to wait for the right time? That one moment when he's relaxed and doesn't know what's going until it's too late. To force yourself to wait until you have the pleasure to watch him beg for mercy…" she almost whispered and looked up straight at Kate. She could tell that the female agent was affected by what she had just said, and she could no longer hold back a smirk.

"Adam was just there to make it look like he was beaten to death…which I was against at first. But then, if he were only poisoned, off course you would realize I did it. I was actually hoping for the poison to have left his blood stream by now but apparently the plan had some flaws. Nothing is perfect I guess" she said and shrugged.

"But why make Adam beat him up all those other times?" Kate asked and wanted to get closer to Mrs. Mathews, but her legs wouldn't allow her to move.

"I didn't…Adam wasn't the one who beat him up" Mrs. Mathews said and Kate felt shivers down her spine. She hadn't been prepared to hear that part of the confession. That was the one thing she thought that Mrs. Mathews wasn't guilty off.

"Why not just divorce him and then report him? After that his life would pretty much be over" Gibbs suddenly said and Mrs. Mathews took her eyes off Kate.

"Now, where would the justice be then? All he would get is a few years in prison if they could prove anything…and that wouldn't be any punishment for what he did" she answered and her eyes darkened, revealing her true colors after all. She had never been the grieving wife to begin with, but never did Kate expect her to be that evil no matter what her husband had done to her. All those years had molded her into a murderer.


	8. Chapter 8

Gibbs was almost at his desk, when he realized that Kate still hadn't left the office. She was staring down at her desk completely lost in her thoughts.

"What are you still doing here?" Gibbs asked and Kate gave him a weary look.

"Just doing some thinking" she said and Gibbs slowly walked up to her desk.

"I hope you're not still trying to figure everything out, Kate, because that's just not possible. What she did can't be explained in any logical way…or understandable for that matter" he said and Kate couldn't help but smile at him.

"Don't worry…I've learned the lesson" she said and got out of her chair. The pain was still there, but she did her best to ignore it.

"How's the arm?" Gibbs asked while Kate tried getting on her coat, which was much more difficult then getting it off.

"Better then earlier" she said and suddenly Gibbs walked over to her. He grabbed the coat and managed to put it on her without even touching the sling.

"You might wanna consider sleeping with that on…to avoid getting in late tomorrow" he said and she glanced at him with a smile.

"Thanks…maybe I will" she said and grabbed her purse. She walked past him and headed for the elevator, but suddenly stopped half way. Turning around, she found Gibbs still in the same spot looking over at her.

"You're not coming? The shift ended over an hour ago" she said with a puzzled look.

"I still got some paperwork's to do…I'll leave soon enough" he said but Kate wouldn't give up so easily. If Gibbs didn't want her to stay any longer after the shift had ended, then she wouldn't allow him to stay. She knew that paperwork wasn't the real reason he was the last one to leave, and this time she wouldn't just walk away.

"I doubt that the papers wont be there tomorrow…besides, don't you wanna continue to work on your boat?" Kate asked with a teasing smile and she could tell that Gibbs understood what she was doing.

"What are you implying, Agent Todd?" Gibbs asked and Kate took a few steps closer towards the elevator.

"Just that maybe you shouldn't spend so much time here alone when you have a boat waiting for you at home" she said with a devious smile and turned around to press the elevator button.

"Is there something amusing about my boat?" Gibbs suddenly asked and Kate flinched when she noticed him standing right beside her.

"I didn't say that" she said as they were getting into the elevator.

"No, but you implied it" Gibbs said with a smile and Kate chuckled as the elevator doors slowly closed.

_**THE END! **_

_**(Thanks for all the reviews people! Keep an eye out for my next NCIS fan fic!) **_


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